Shia LaBeouf

“You can't buy back your respect; you can't buy back your career. You only get one, so I don't want to mess that up.” - Shia LaBeouf

In Hebrew, Shia LaBeouf’s first name means “gift from God.” If he’s a gift to Hollywood, then his gifts are acting and a love of performance -- skills that date back through five generations of his family. Most recognizable to us in the Transformers films as a carefree California dude making out with Megan Fox amid giant robots and as the intrepid son of Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, LaBeouf has achieved substantial buzz and significant paydays thanks to these and a handful of other blockbusters (like Eagle Eye and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps).

While he’s not the most groundbreaking actor out there and his film credits are more on the breezy side than the Oscar side, Shia LaBeouf has still made friends with Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Michael Bay, and Oliver Stone. In a town where enemies are as close as the next issue of the National Enquirer, LaBeouf has some good people on his side and the potential to expand his fame and range in meaningful directions.

MAGNETISM

Shia LaBeouf isn’t what most women would call a conventional male sex symbol. Standing in at a mere 5’9”, he carries himself on-screen with a demeanor that’s more charismatically quirky than being outright rugged or sexy. While these quirks might have something to do with a childhood that involved wearing full clown gear (including make-up) and selling hot dogs from a cart, don’t get the mistaken idea that he’s quirky and innocent. With a few arrests and a suspended driver’s license to his credit, there are a few hints of rebelliousness to go along with the quirks. Throw it all together and you have a boyish, successful young star with an attitude, which often translates well when it comes to attracting the fairer sex.

When it comes to women, Shia LaBeouf isn’t shy about what he wants. He likes his potential mates to be pretty, have a sense of mystery about them, possess a strong personality, and a love of skateboarding. For a time, it was China Brezner -- a high-powered producer’s daughter -- who fit the bill, but more recently he’s found love with Lauren Hastings (best-known for the “Cry Me a River” video from Justin Timberlake) and his current squeeze, Carey Mulligan (his Wall Street costar).

SUCCESS

Though he’s a past Daytime Emmy winner for the Disney series Even Stevens and has had Steven Spielberg in his corner ever since he starred in Holes, Shia LaBeouf’s rise into the youth category of the Hollywood “It” pool didn’t come until after he started spying on his neighbors and ogling Sarah Roemer in Disturbia. Since then, he’s had the opportunity to battle giant robots (the Transformers movies), join filmdom’s most famous globetrotting archaeologist in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, dodge artificial intelligence gone haywire in Eagle Eye, and now trade industry secrets with the stock market’s ultimate schemer Gordon Gekko in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

Since his mainstream breakthrough in 2007, Shia LaBeouf has established himself as an energetic and charismatic performer on-screen and member of the Entertainment Weekly 30 Under 30, and AskMen Top 49 Men lists away from the camera. That said, he has yet to find adult roles that allow his performances to stand out from the elaborate action going on around him. In the Transformers films, he was surrounded by giant fighting robots and in Indiana Jones, he was understandably overshadowed by Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett. If pop culture is currently pegging LaBeouf as a youthful lead for breezy summer blockbusters, so be it. He isn’t complaining and, besides, it allows for some great perks. How many guys can say that they’ve had a helicopter flying lesson from Harrison Ford?

Shia LaBeouf Biography

Shia LaBeouf was born into a family that was both challenging and eccentric in its own ways. His father, Jeffrey, was a Vietnam vet with significant drug issues that LaBeouf witnessed firsthand. By the same token, they were also known to sell hot dogs from a pushcart while dressed as clowns -- an activity that started when LaBeouf was just two years old. It was just another part of a lifestyle that was often poor (especially after the separation of his parents), but mostly happy. As LaBeouf’s mother was a former dancer, his great-grandmother was an ex-piano player for wiseguy Lucky Luciano and his grandfather was a comedian and Mafia barber, it was obvious that LaBeouf was destined for something in the entertainment field. The only hitch was exactly where (or if) he could fit in.

As his family struggled, Shia LaBeouf looked to the entertainment world as a way to help them get by. His point of entry was an engaging R-rated stand-up comedy routine at Los Angeles clubs that involved frank (and funny) discussions of sex, profanity and insults. LaBeouf’s desire to try professional acting on for size came when he caught an acquaintance guest-starring on the Jane Seymour series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman -- a discovery that sent him to the Yellow Pages where he proceeded to set up a meeting with an agent and convince her -- via a third-person manager-style description of his acting potential -- that he was a star-in-the-making.

The agent appreciated Shia LaBeouf’s effort, took him on and before long he found work -- mostly on television -- in guest spots ranging from Caroline in the City (his debut) to ER, Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks, and The X-Files. LaBeouf’s big TV break would come in 1999, when he landed the ongoing role of the awkward youngster Louis Stevens on the Disney Channel’s Even Stevens. The role lasted more than 60 episodes and won him a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003.

shia labeouf stars in disturbia and transformers

After the conclusion of Even Stevens, Shia LaBeouf turned his complete attention to films. Following a well-received turn as a prison-bound juvenile from a strange family in Holes, he subsequently landed small roles in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, I, Robot and Constantine. From there, he essayed a lead role as real-life golfer Francis Ouimet in The Greatest Game Ever Told before joining the ensemble cast of the hard-hitting political drama Bobby in 2006 -- a film directed by former Brat Packer Emilio Estevez that featured Martin Sheen, Sharon Stone, Joshua Jackson, Lindsay Lohan, Ashton Kutcher, Nick Cannon, Elijah Wood, and Heather Graham among others. By playing a waiter who partakes in some mind-bending LSD during the last days of Robert Kennedy, LaBeouf tapped into the nomadic lifestyle of his parents’ background and confidently established his screen presence alongside his more experienced castmates.

shia labeouf in disturbia and transformers

In 2007, Shia LaBeouf took his acting game to the next level by landing the lead role in the Rear Window-influenced Disturbia. As a juvenile delinquent serving house arrest who believes that his creepy neighbor is a killer, LaBeouf offered a strong lead performance that -- when coupled with the eye candy provided by Sarah Roemer -- made for big box office success.

That summer, he traded Sarah Roemer for Megan Fox and a crop of giant robots in the live-action remake of Transformers. A fan of the toys and the original animated film and TV series, LaBeouf took on the role of Sam, the central Earthling caught in the middle of a war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The film, from director Michael Bay, was the tentpole picture of the summer, lending further credence to LaBeouf’s new status as a young leading man. While the film wasn’t a hit with critics, LaBeouf did gain positive mentions and a handful of awards, including the title of the ShoWest Star of Tomorrow.

shia labeouf in indiana jones and wall street: money never sleeps

Steven Spielberg, who previously cast Shia LaBeouf in Transformers, contacted him again with another role in mind. This time, it was that of Mutt Williams in the belated sequel Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The chance to have a place in the folklore of Indiana Jones was too much to resist and LaBeouf immediately signed on. Unfortunately, while the film was a box office bonanza in 2008, critics were not kind to -- among other things -- CGI monkeys, Cate Blanchett’s bizarre villain and Shia LaBeouf’s performance. In discussing the film later on, he later said, “I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people cherished,” but his career would rebound with Eagle Eye, which found him and Michelle Monaghan on the run from an unseen electronic enemy.

Soon after the release of Indiana Jones, Shia LaBeouf was shooting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen when a car accident severely injured his hand. The real-life injury was integrated into the storyline of the film, which like the first one was a critically-panned box office smash in the summer of 2009. Following a role as a bellboy in the indie film, New York, I Love You costarring Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman and Christina Ricci, LaBeouf took another gamble with a film franchise by joining Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone for the sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. As the youngblood who enters in the life of the recently-paroled Gordon Gekko, LaBeouf got the chance to play alongside one of the great villains of the 1980s while also finding love on-screen and off with costar Carey Mulligan.